Spain v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.

CARNES, Circuit Judge:

This is a cigarette product liability case initially brought in the Alabama state courts by Paul Spain, as administrator of the estate of Carolyn Spain, against Phillip Morris, Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, seeking recovery under the Alabama wrongful death statute. After removing the case to federal court on diversity grounds, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Stating only that the motion was “well-taken,” the district court granted it and dismissed all of Spain’s…